11.19.2011

The Walking Dead - Chupacabra

You know what? It's not fun writing about The Walking Dead anymore. And that's mostly because in each episode, I feel only fleeting moments of clear interest in what's going on. I find myself walking away (get it!) from the screen every 10 minutes, not particularly concerned when the "conversational" parts take precedent. Mostly, that's because I've learned, as I'm sure you have too, that The Walking Dead is a show that loves BIG TWIST endings. All of the twists are saved for last and they almost never have much to do with anything that takes up the bulk of our time in the preceding 46 minutes. (The Shane-Otis thing, notwithstanding.) Lori's preggers! Shocker! Carl gets shot! Shocker! And in "Chupacabra": Barn-full of zombies! Shocker! I for one am tired of cliffhangers. At some point it just feels too convenient when stories keep wrapping up in unsatisfying, often uninteresting revelations. (Again, the Shane-Otis thing, notwithstanding.) And truth be told, the barn of zombies is great. My assumption is that Hershel (who episodes ago stated that humanity would find a cure) is keeping the zombies in the barn because he thinks he may be able to bring them back, someday. My guess is that it's a bit of white knight something-or-other, or just a need for control. It would cool if he just likes to go in there and pop one every few days to feel powerful, but I doubt they'd go that far in absurdity or in coolness.

But "Chupacabra" generally sucks. And the reason is that other than Daryl's excellent side-story, this show can't decide if it wants to be plot-driven or if it wants to be My Dinner With Andre. Rick and Shane has a talk, and Shane says, outright, that he doesn't think Rick's doing a good job. These people talk about their frustrations too much. And while good communication is important in real life, it's often hard to believe that these people could be so transparent with each other. They say what they think almost all the time. And no one really does that. No one is "conflict avoidance" enough. And the character's don't develop themselves through their actions as much as they do through saying what they're thinking and doing when they're thinking and doing it. Also, Glenn's little misogynistic menstruation concern is just plain stupid. Hershel, though, who maintains a weird fatherly racism/fascism is interesting, if only it weren't so thickly plastered into his every sentence. So, I'm kinda tired of writing about the show because the show doesn't "wow" much. It's like I started reviewing Weezer's catalog: The Blue Album was great. Pinkerton was great. But I'm struggling to keep finding the good bits among the muck as it goes on.

Some brief notes:

1. Why (and this is a questions asked all over already) would Maggie let Glenn pick the hook up spot if she knows about the zombie barn?

2. Why is anyone letting Andrea do things when she's so completely terrible?

4. How is it that when this world should be dangerous, it feels so often completely safe... too safe?

5. When are these characters going to start at least considering their actions in advance of doing them? They spend a lot of time philosophizing, but no one ever seems ready or capable of making a plan that makes sense... And no one seems capable of questioning the plans that don't make sense.

And 6. How disappointed are we going to be when we get a little explanation of the zombie barn and then spend another episode where a bad decision/circumstance is the conflict?